HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Global Travel Marketplace (GTM), a
boutique trade show hosted by Travel Weekly, opened for its fifth annual
renewal on Sunday afternoon at the Diplomat Resort here.
The show runs through Tuesday afternoon.
This year, the conference features 120 agents who were
chosen from more than 700 applicants. Each agent did at least $1 million in
sales in the past year.
Over the course of the two days, the agent attendees engage
in a series of 6-minute appointments that they arrange from among the 123
suppliers in attendance.
Unlike a typical show, the suppliers don't have booths, but
instead rotate around the conference room to meet agents who remain at an
assigned table.
Small group-supplier presentations as well as larger
presentations during breakfast and lunch are also part of the show.
By late Monday morning, first-time attendee Darci Upham,
owner of CruiseOne in Hampstead, N.C., was already sold on the value of GTM.
From left, Ann Petronio of Annie's Escapes, Valerie Dorsey of Cruise Planners and Sarah Nelson Wandrey of A World of Travel enjoy a Kentucky Derby-themed welcome reception at Gulfstream Park sponsored by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"I was just making a Facebook post saying this is the most
amazing event I’ve ever been to," she said. "It is nothing like any other
event. Every agent here is successful, focused and serious about their business,
and it's not always that way."
Agents and suppliers attending the show have scheduled
approximately 6,000 individual appointments, said Alicia Evanko-Lewis, senior
vice president of events for Northstar Travel Group.